Stop the habit of breaking your neck, shaking your neck and making a crackling sound

You must have had the habit of breaking your neck, shaking your neck when you feel tired and unconsciously practicing it for the purpose of relieving pressure in the neck and shoulders when stressed. This habit seems harmless but has many potential risks and is a cause of musculoskeletal diseases and the risk of stroke.

Video content is professionally consulted by Doctor Dao Hong Nam, Doctor of Traditional Medicine, Vinmec Times City General Hospital

When we rotate the neck, the capsule of the joint is stretched. This condition causes the synovial fluid in the joint capsule to produce air bubbles. They will break and make a wobbling sound when the pressure drops below the lowest level. When we shake the neck, the two bones will collide with each other and make a sound, and cause pain in the neck area. Therefore, you should be especially careful while every time you break your neck, you will hear a "crack" sound.
In addition, the crackling sound emitted when we break or rotate our neck is also a warning sign of spinal diseases such as:

1. Cervical Spine Syndrome This is a disease condition that develops in many different levels, which can progress slowly, gradually increase or occur suddenly when you move the neck area after a long period of time. work. Typical symptoms of the disease are: sharp pain, pain in the cervical spine, stiffness in the muscles of the neck and shoulders, limited movement of the cervical spine.
2. Cervical nerve root syndrome The basic symptoms are neck pain and pain along the nerve path, accompanied by sensory disturbances manifested by numbness, weakness, and fatigue. hands, fingers, pain in joints.
Basal artery syndrome usually has some symptoms such as:
● Cluster headache, these pains usually appear in the morning.
● Often get dizzy when changing positions.
● In some cases, the patient also has tinnitus and always has the feeling of a ticking sound in the ear. The pain radiates to the area behind the ear and pain in one position in the head area.
3. The vegetative syndrome When turning the neck, crackling can be a sign of the condition of the vegetative syndrome. This condition often has a number of symptoms such as:
● Pain in the cervical disc area, accompanied by constant and frequent neck pain. The phenomenon of stiff neck, the pain increases every time the patient performs movement.
● In severe cases, it is difficult for the patient to move the neck area naturally.
4. Myelodysplasia Some common symptoms in this syndrome are:
● Patients who walk unsteadily have a feeling of numbness in the extremities affecting movement.
● The most dangerous can cause the patient to become paralyzed and atrophy.

Performing neck rotation is very normal and does not affect health much. However, if you do it incorrectly or do it too often and too hard, it can cause uncomfortable pain and can hurt the neck area.
In addition, doing neck movements that are too strong or sudden can affect the arteries in the cervical vertebrae. You will be at risk of having a stroke in the near future if you are unlucky enough to fall into this situation.
Constantly trying to crack the neck can also stretch the ligaments in the neck. This makes the neck function weak and painful if not treated properly.
More dangerous than maintaining the habit of breaking the neck, shaking the neck for a long time can make the cervical spine hurt. Gradually develop into cervical spondylosis, spondylitis or cervical herniated disc disease.
Therefore, to prevent this situation, you should
Change your daily living habits so as not to affect the cervical spine Regularly move, avoid sitting and working continuously for a long time (especially doing work with computers, laptops, ipads, phones...); Exercise regularly to circulate blood in the body and provide a diet full of nutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamins A, C. In order to help patients with shoulder and neck pain soon regain balance in life as well. As if it does not affect health in the future,
Vinmec International General Hospital has developed a rehabilitation department with the main task of instructing how to massage and treat shoulder and neck pain effectively. The strength of the department is physiotherapy and rehabilitation treatment for all inpatients and outpatients
With a team of doctors specialized in Rehabilitation with many years of experience, dedication to the profession, together with With a system of modern synchronous facilities, divided into subdivisions such as: medical examination area, physical therapy area, movement therapy area, ... spacious, it is guaranteed to bring a sense of comfort. for the patient to get the best treatment results.